News & Views Friday, December 09, 2016

There seems to always be something new happening at Stanton’s. Last year at this time, we were excited for the launch of our new website, which is actually three websites in one: our main site (stantons.com), digital delivery website (digitaldelivery.stantons.com) and, what seems to be our fan favorite, the Stanton’s Listening Library (listeninglab.stantons.com). The new website gave us the ability to offer increased communication and enhanced technology and features for our customers—helping to make the online shopping experience more similar to live shopping in our store!

On our main site, you can easily access our Twitter, Facebook and WordPress feeds and view our most recent posts right on the homepage. All three of these external networks allow you to communicate directly with our creative staff. In each of the 13 main categories, such as Orchestra Music, the tabs on the right side of the screen allow us to easily display staff picks and seasonal materials, and keep our recommendations current with your programming needs.

We have continued to make improvements to our site, even after the initial launch. We added a predictive search to our search engine so that you can find the exact title you need more quickly. A “Wishlist” feature makes it easy for you to build and name multiple lists of items that can be printed, shared or exported to help you plan your concert and your budget. We have fine-tuned our shipping estimator to give you a realistic expectation of what shipping will cost, so there are no surprises. Our Current Promotions and Clinics pages received face lifts, and we added a “Quick Order” feature for when you’ve already collected your catalog numbers and quantities and just want to complete your order as fast as possible.

Many of these ongoing improvements were suggested directly by you–our customers! With the “feedback” button at the bottom of each page of the website, customers have let us know if something wasn’t working quite right so our programmers can narrow down and fix any glitches quickly. Thank you for helping to make our site a useful, user-friendly resource for musicians and music educators, and thank you for choosing Stanton’s Sheet Music for all your sheet music purchases. We welcome your continued feedback as we add more enhanced features in the year to come!

Ready to start planning for your community choir for next season? Stanton’s Sheet Music suggests these outstanding choices to bring out the best in your ensemble!

Agnus Dei, the stirring final movement from John Leavitt’s “Missa Festiva,” features a stunning chamber orchestration to enhance the music texture and color of this captivating modal work. Round out your concert with other movements from the work – Kyrie, Gloria, and the exciting Festival Sanctus.

As performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Mack Wilberg’s arrangement of Homeward Bound is a heartfelt piece full of warmth and sincerity. Utilize the magnificent orchestration, or feature two outstanding accompanists on the four-hand piano reduction.

“Because of your great sacrifice, your country joins to sing.” Patriotism and gratitude prevail in Thank You Soldiers, a moving tribute to the men and women of our armed forces. As a special touch, project animated images from the VideoTrax DVD on a large screen during your performance.

Celebrate the Great White Way with an exciting Broadway medley! Present the classic music of George and Ira Gershwin with Porgy and Bess: Choral Highlights, a dramatic choral treatment of the fine musical score, or Who Could Ask for Anything More, an 8 ½ minute medley featuring some of their best-known songs arranged with flair and style.

Bring the house down with an encore of Give Me a Choral Medley! Those with a keen sense of humor and a modest knowledge of the choral repertoire will appreciate this tongue-in-cheek send-up of a common programming cliche. With plenty of punch lines, a few familiar favorites, and a showbiz kick line, this is a riot on the risers!

This new album, Believer, by Kutless, debuted at 36 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums, and at number one on the Billboard Christian Albums chart for the week of March 17, 2012. The single, “Carry Me to the Cross,” is still on the Billboard Christian Songs chart. This collection has all the songs from the album ready to sing and play. If you’ve been listening to the album all this time, now’s your chance to have it in print!

For information about this and other sheet music collections, call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC or email us at keyboard@stantons.com

This collection of songs sung by Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. includes eleven timeless standards including “That’s Life“, “Fly Me to the Moon(In Other Words)”, and “My Way”. The piano accompaniments are rich and full of jazz harmonies. This young man won the sixth season of America’s Got Talent in 2011, and was scheduled to begin a headlining act in Las Vegas in October of 2011. He loves the standards, and you can tell it. His enthusiasm is infectious! To take a closer look at this collection or other music you may be interested in, please call us at 1-800-24-MUSIC or email us at keyboard@stantons.com

Parades are great public relations showcases for your band program, yet many are last-minute requests with the exception of Memorial Day, Independence Day, and, possibly, Christmas. As a result, they are often hastily put together and a lower priority when compared with other musical and educational goals. Let Stanton’s help reduce your stress and anxiety, and make it easier to say ‘yes’ to your community with this series of Parade Sequence sets from Hal Leonard.

Published in the Series One marching band series at the grade 2 level, they are solidly scored, and easy to put together – perfect for those Monday parade request phone calls for a Thursday morning parade. Each set features a few well-known songs appropriate to each event/style, with easy drum cadences in between. They are also customizable – use 1, 2, or all of the titles included in each set.

The series consists of Patriotic Parade Sequence (we highly recommend this one for your 4th of July Parade), Disney Parade Sequence, Spanish Parade Sequence, and Christmas Parade Sequence. Complete song lists and preview audio are available by clicking on each title, and you can add them to your shopping cart or Stanton’s Sheet Music wish list. With these titles in your marching band library you can rest easy the next time you get a parade request on short-notice. Now all you have to focus on is getting your students out of class, bus requests, permission slips, lunch arrangements,…

The songs are arranged so that they can be played as piano solos or sung by a soloist with the piano as accompaniment. For summer time special music, this collection of medium to medium high contemporary sacred songs is a treasure trove!

To find out more about this collection or other sacred music collections, call 1-800-42-MUSIC or email us at keyboard@stantons.com

Here is the sheet music collection, which includes all eleven songs. Bass parts are written out, and all the notes for her scat singing are present-you fill in the syllables! Now that you’ve heard the music, you can play it. If you haven’t heard this album, check out her website and give it a listen!

To check out this album or anything else musical you may be interested in, please contact us at 1-800-42-MUSIC or email us at keyboard@stantons.com.

Preparations for the summer concert season are upon us, and no community band performance is more important, or well-attended, than Independence Day. Community bands have plenty of tried and true patriotic standards in their libraries, but the Stanton’s band staff keeps its ears open each year for enjoyable new arrangements that would make great additions to your library, and provide something fresh for both your band and audience. Several new arrangements caught our attention this year, and we’re pleased to suggest the following titles:

American Jubilee by Charles Booker is a short, vibrant concert overture that resonates with the spirit of the American landscape. Consisting primarily of original material, there are brief hints and echoes of the Star-Spangled Banner that add to the character and noble quality of the work. This wonderfully exhilarating addition to the concert band repertoire is a perfect concert or patriotic performance selection.

There’s always a spot in your library for a finely crafted montage of everybody’s favorite patriotic flag-wavers. An American Spectacular is a “fantasy medley” that interweaves the many hearts of American music from the earliest days of Chester, to folk standards like Shenandoah, wartime spirit-boosters like Over There, and timeless classics like America, the Beautiful in a truly spectacular tribute to the red, white and blue.

Elegy for the U.S.S. Arizona is a tribute to the lasting legacy of the members of the U.S.S. Arizona Band, entombed with over 1,100 other sailors in the sunken wreckage of the Arizona. A solemn snare drum begins and ends the piece, and the familiar strains of Eternal Father Strong to Save are used to create a moving tribute to all veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Based on My Country, ‘Tis of Thee, James Curnow’s Let Freedom Ring is a brilliant concert setting of this patriotic standard. Bold, majestic, and full of contemporary harmonies, yet classic in form and style, Let Freedom Ring is a powerful salute to our nation, our armed forces, and is perfect as a rousing closer sure to bring your audience to its feet!

You can preview each of these works by clicking on the highlighted titles above, and add those you like to your shopping cart or wish list. If you prefer to go ‘old-school’, just give us a call, 1-800-426-8742, and check out the Community Band tab on our concert band webpage for more suggestions.

Stanton’s Sheet Music is pleased to invite you to the 2012 “Stanton’s Super Session,” a day-long choral reading session of new music from a variety of publishers! Pre-registration is now open – register online, or call us at 1.800.426.8742. Check out our video below for a “sneak peek” at what we have in store!

Caroline Miller has arranged Broadway, movie, and pop hits on early levels for the “A Dozen a Day Songbook” series. The books can be used on their own or as a supplement to the “A Dozen a Day” technique series by Edna-Mae Burnham. Keep lessons fun for your student or child! Levels released so far are: Mini, Preparatory, and Book 1. If you would like to know more about these books or other Stanton’s music books and sheets, please contact us at 1-800-42-MUSIC or at keyboard@stantons.com.

Answer to last week’s trivia question, “Where did the stick figure drawings come from that are drawn above each “A Dozen a Day” exercise?” Answer: Edna-Mae Burnam drew them herself.

(from NEA.gov)Randall Thompson (1899-1984) was the pre-eminent American choral composer of an earlier generation. His music, though grounded in traditional European rules, always seems very much of its time and place, perhaps because he frequently drew upon the early folk music of New England and the Appalachian region.

He was a Yankee by heritage, born in New York City to a New England family. His father was an English teacher, and sent him to Harvard University where he studied choral music and composition. After graduation he had some private lessons with Ernest Bloch. He won the Prix de Rome in 1922. After studying abroad he returned to the U.S. and spent the rest of his career teaching at various universities, most notably at his alma mater Harvard from 1948 to 1965. Among his most famous students were Leonard Bernstein and Lukas Foss.

Although Thompson wrote piano music and songs, chamber music and symphonies, and even a Biblical opera, it is for his exceptionally apt choral music that he has remained most admired. His “Alleluia,” written in 1940, quickly became a staple of church choirs in towns big and small and was recorded over a dozen times in the next few decades. Thompson seemed to understand by the 1950s that his style was no longer in vogue in academia; from then on he concentrated his efforts upon community, church, and college choir ensembles – and with enthusiasm, not regret.

Esperanza Spalding is an exciting, up-and-coming jazz artist whose debut album, “Esperanza” has just come into print. She won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011, making her the first jazz artist to win that award. Her skills as an instrumentalist and vocalist make her shine in this album, in which she sings in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. This collection is worth a good look! Please contact us at 1-800-42-MUSIC or at keyboard@stantons.com to inquire about this collection or other Stanton’s products.

May is here, and with the end of the school year upon us, so are the annual commencement ceremonies. Stanton’s band staff is pleased to recommend the following arrangements of commencement standards for your band to sound its best for this important community event.

THE standard for over 40 years, James D. Ployhar’s Fanfare and Processional/Fanfare and Recessional featuring Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance along with original fanfares and a recessional, is a staple of high school band libraries across the country. Each year we sell plenty of replacement sets to directors whose copies are missing too many parts. Have you checked your library yet?

If you’re looking for something different, Academic Processional & Recessional arranged by Robert W. Smith and Ed Huckeby presents a fresh new treatment of the ceremonial “must-haves” Pomp and Circumstance and Sine Nomine at the grade 3 level! Skillfully scored for success even with limited instrumentation, they nevertheless sound full and solid, with some inspired creative touches.

Lastly, Michael Story’s Graduation Suite is perfect for middle school commencement or smaller high school bands. This accessible arrangement pairs Elgar’s traditional Pomp and Circumstance with the Rondeau by Jean-Joseph Mouret as the recessional (think Masterpiece Theatre; or for Sesame Street fans, Monsterpiece Theatre with Alistair Cookie!).

In the 1930′s, Edna-Mae Burnam began writing a series of technique books for beginning pianists. She called it “A Dozen a Day“. These collections of short, easy exercises are easy and fun to play. Mastering technique for playing the piano even at the early levels of instruction is important. It helps the player practice more efficiently and avoid some pitfalls altogether. Beginning with the earliest level, called “Mini Book”, and ending with Book 4, the concepts presented reinforce the technique as the student progresses. If you had forgotten about this series, or if you would like to know more about it, please contact us at 1800-42-MUSIC, or keyboard@stantons.com. Trivia question: There is a stick figure drawing above each exercise. Where did these come from? (Stay tuned.)

This has been around for years, but may be new to some of you (stop me if you’ve heard it!) with apologies for stereotyping!

After a concert band piece has been played and the music is passed back in, you can almost count on the following:

Flute parts will still look brand new.
Clarinet parts will have alternate fingerings written all over them.
Trumpet parts will be torn from fighting over the lead part.
Trombone parts will have spit stains all over them.
Tuba parts will have a footprint in the middle of them.
Percussion parts will never come back.

This group of books from Hal Leonard’s Essential Elements Guitar Ensembles is perfect for your guitar class, beginning at the mid-beginner level, and going up to the mid intermediate level. As long as all three parts are covered, any number of players can participate. These are great fun if you have 2 more guitar buddies who want to play ensembles, too.

Each book includes the score with all three parts, and has 14-15 songs per book. Each book of sheet music costs $9.95, so each trio costs only sixty- six cents! There is a melody part, a harmony part, and a bass line written for the regular six string guitar. There are several styles of music to choose from: pop, rock, jazz, and even Disney!

If you would like to know more about these or any other music we have, feel free to contact us at 1-800.42-MUSIC or at keyboard@stantons.com.

Stanton’s is excited to welcome back Greg Gilpin as our clinician for the 30th edition of our Elementary General Music Clinic. This is one of Stanton’s longest running and most successful clinics, where we showcase the best new teacher resources, song collections, games, musicals and more! We are sure that you will find materials that will keep you and your students interested throughout the year. Get your school year started on the right foot!

It’s the beginning of May, and even though the school year is beginning to wind down, there are still a few important band performances left. Memorial Day is just around the corner, and the band staff at Stanton’s is honored to help you salute the men and women of our armed services with the following recommendations for marching and concert band.

Perfect for parade or ceremonial use are long-time staples Service Songs Set 1, containing Anchors Aweigh (Navy) and The Caissons Go Rolling Along (Army), and Service Songs Set 2, containing the Marine’s Hymn and U.S. Air Force Song, both arranged by Jerry Burns.

Ideal for parade use is Paul Lavender and Will Rapp’s Patriotic Parade Sequence featuring My Country, ‘Tis of Thee; America the Beautiful; and Battle Hymn of the Republic with easy drum cadences in between.

For concert band we highly recommend Armed Forces – The Pride of America, arranged by Larry Clark and Greg Gilpin. This is the only arrangement available for either concert or marching band that pays tribute to ALL 5 service branches. It also includes settings of the Pledge of Allegiance, America the Beautiful, and the Star-Spangled Banner. This distinctive arrangement has optional 2, 3, or 4-part choral, and string sets available.

Armed Forces on Parade, arranged by Michael Sweeney is a stirring medley of American military marches (Marine’s Hymn, The Caissons Go Rolling Along, Anchors Aweigh) also perfect for the concert setting. A part of Hal Leonard’s Flex-Band Series, this arrangement contains 5-part writing plus percussion making it a great choice for bands with incomplete or unbalanced instrumentation.

We hope you find these recommendations to be helpful, and wish you a safe and happy Memorial Day.

School Teachers – we’re talking your budget allotment here! In these tough economic times, you will want to make sure that you use what you have been given! If you have money left on any of your Purchase Orders, we recommend that you get it spent before someone in the office decides to pull it out from under you and buy soccer balls with it! Plus if you don’t use your allotment, there is a chance you won’t get as much next year because the clerk/treasurer sees that you don’t spend what you’ve been given, so they’ll give you less the next time!

With that in mind, Stanton’s Sheet Music has some great music with which you can finish out the school year. Whether you want serious literature or something on the lighter side, we have plenty of choral, band and orchestra music that would be perfect for your Spring Concerts, for graduation, for teaching new concepts or practicing sight-reading or just to get a head start on next year.

Check out the recommendations on our website, or call Stanton’s at 1-800-42-MUSIC (1-800-426-8742) and talk to one of our knowledgeable sales people about top notch music to finish out your budget. The music we recommend is educationally valid, the best sounding and the most highly programmable, so you can count on getting just the right pieces for your groups to get your precious money’s worth. Contact Stanton’s today!